by Tim Linafelt, USA TODAY Sports

by Tim Linafelt, USA TODAY Sports

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - From where they sat, scattered throughout Florida State's Dick Howser Stadium, it wasn't always easy to spot the group of Indiana fans who made the trek to Tallahassee to watch the Hoosiers in their first-ever Super Regional appearance. Their crimson-and-cream apparel blended in too easily with FSU's garnet and gold.

By the end of the eighth inning of Sunday's Game 2 between IU and FSU, though, there was no mistaking the few hundred Indiana fans in attendance. They were the ones standing, chanting "Let's go Hoosiers," while the home team's supporters mostly sat in stunned silence, the precursor to a celebration 118 years of IU baseball in the making.

The dog-pile near the pitcher's mound followed about 20 minutes later.

Indiana 11, Florida State 6.

The Hoosiers are going to the College World Series for the first time in school history. And they're the first Big Ten team to reach the CWS since Michigan in 1984.

"It's just unbelievable," IU designated hitter Scott Donley said. "It's an experience you've been dreaming about since you were a little kid. I feel like it still hasn't hit me yet."

Donley, a redshirt sophomore from Crown Point, hit Indiana's first home run of the game, a solo shot in the third inning that stretched the Hoosiers' early lead to 5-2.

Then, when FSU rallied for three runs in the top of the fifth to tie the game, awakening most of the 4,193 fans in attendance and finally grabbing some positive momentum, IU first baseman Sam Travis snatched it right back with a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning that gave the Hoosiers all the runs they would need.

"This is what you dream about as a little kid," Travis said. "You watch the College World Series as a kid. You dream about it. The fact that it's happening just feels like you're living in a dream. It's an unbelievable experience."

When the Hoosiers won the Big Ten title two weeks ago, coach Tracy Smith managed to dodge the water-cooler shower his players had waiting for him, but he had no such luck this time around.

He arrived to his post-game press conference with a still-wet jersey courtesy of seniors Justin Cureton, Trace Knoblauch and Michael Basil, among others, who patiently waited for Smith to finish a TV interview before pouncing.

"They got me this time," Smith said with a smile. "I evaded that at the conference tournament â?? I had my stealthy moves, but (today) I wasn't quite ready. They broke my sunglasses too. We'll run them when they get back."

And as he discussed ice-water showers, timely hitting and high-pressure pitching, Smith did it with his son Casey, the Hoosiers' fourth-year junior left fielder, sitting directly to his left.

The younger Smith finished 1-for-3 at the plate with an RBI single Sunday to help ensure that father and son would be traveling to Omaha together.

"Every step of the way, it's magical ... " he said. "I'm doing this with my dad. I can't even put it into words."

"For us to be able to share this type of thing together, I couldn't have written it any better," Tracy Smith said. "And it couldn't mean more to me as a parent."

Sunday's game ended at 4:35 p.m., but more than an hour after Tim O'Conner caught the final out in left field, the crimson-and-cream contingent had made its way out of the stands and gathered near the third-base line here at Mike Martin Field.

They exchanged smiles, hugs and high-fives with each other and with players making their way out of Tallahassee and back to Bloomington for just a few days before their next trip begins.

"We are thrilled. We're happy," Smith said, "but we feel like we've got a lot of work left to do."